Multiple vending machine



Jan. 31, 1933. c. WALKI-:R 1,895,953

MULTIPLE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 29, 1930 Charles Wax/fer,

Patented Jan. 31, 1,933

UNITED sTATi-:s

CHARLES WALKER, or xNoxvrLL'n, ".rnNNEssEE isulrL'rII'Ln` VENDING MCHINEApinieeon fiiea September 29; 1930.- swietna-485,168.

`vMy invention consists in new and vuseful improvements in a coincontrolled multiple vending machine and has for itsV obj ect to providea device of this Character having mechanism adapted to vend anydesired'number of articles in a single operation when a coin or coins ofdifferent denominations are inserted. z

Another object of myinvention is to provide a vending machine of thistype, having ,J points on a minimum number of parts, and one which issimple in construction and operation as well as economical to,manufacture VWith the above and'other objects in view which will appearas the description/proceeds, my invention consists in the novel featuresherein set forth, illustrate'd in the accompanying drawing, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings inwhich numerals of like character designatesimilar parts Vthroughout'the several views,

Fig. 1 is a view in front lelevation partially broken away and with theface of the housing removed to illustrate the internal mechanism. o

` Fig. 2 is a top plan view of'thefinternal mechanism pa-rtially brokenaway.

j Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view taken at right p Vby the shaft 8, saidcoin will engage the short arm of the respective lever. In the interestof clarity, in Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown the angles to Fig. 1 showingthe delivery chamher and mechanism, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the or container of my improved vending machine, one Aend wall4ofwhich is apertured and provided with a bearing,` or the like 2adaptedto rotatably support one end Vof a horizontal shaft 3, the otherend of which terminatesv within the housing and is supported by abearing v4v`carried by a rigid vertical post 5 extending upwardly fromthe base of the housing. At predetermined the shaft 3 I arrange aplurality of drums 6, 7 and 8 keyed or otherwise rigid- 'ly secured tothe shaft 3 in spaced relation, each of said drums havinga'n arcuateslot or Vrecess 6', 7', and 8' respectively, arranged s transversely inthe upper side of its periphery as shown in Figs.v 1 and 12. VAlthoughany drawings, 1 represents the housing number of drums maybe employed onthe shaft 3, I have onlyshown three in order: to avoid confusion.

, The slots abovementioned lare of a suitable size to receive apredetermined portion of various denominationof coins and are varrangedin direct alignment with and adapted. to receive'coins from respectivecoin chutes 10, 11 and 12. For example, the'chutelO and v slot 6' are ofa size to receive a five-cent piece, 30 the chute v11 and. slot 7' areofea size to receive a ten-cent piece,'and the chute 12 and slot 8' areof a size to accommodate a twenty-` five-cent piece.V o a `The outer endof theshaft .3 is provided 05 with a handle 18 whereby the shaft andwith it the drums 6, 7 and 8 maybe rotated` in the bearings 2 and 4 ashereinafter set forth more o in detail.

14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 represent a plurality of horizontal levers,pivoted at predetermined points intermediate their ends to suitablesupports, the short arm of each ofsaid levers being free and terminatingat a point substantially adj acent one of the drums on the shaft 3'withits forward edge in close proximity and lying just behindthe coinslot in said i drum, whereby when a suitable coin is deosited in thecoin slot, and the drumrotated mechanism broken away with'only fragmentsof the levers 16 and 17, it being understood that any number of leversand drums mayA be employed` as desired'to suit various conditions.'Furthermor I'have only shown pivotal supports for levers 14, 15 and18,'said supports being designated as 14', 15' and 18'. As shown in thedrawings, the'lever 14 is arranged to coop'erate with the drum 6,-thelever 15 with the drum 7, and the lever 18 with the drum 8.

' All ofithe levers 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are arranged in superposedrelation and spaced apart in such a manner as to avoid interference inoperation so that any one of the levers may be independently operated onits pivot irrespectlive of the others. The op-l posite end of each leverterminates immediof the closure next above, the upperinostv closure 24being pivoted' to the front wall of the housing 1, any suitablemechanism being employed to return said closure to normal position afteran articleirorarticles have been vended. a

At tlie rear extremity of each delivery arm I provide a horizontal Wingor shelf 1116, 155, 16h, 17h and 1870 respectively, the pui'pose ofwhich is to engage beneath and support the package next above that beingvended, as the delivery arm swings-on its pivot and until such time assaid delivery arm is returned to normal position by suitable springs 29.The

Wing then slides from beneath the column of articles and permits thesame to descend in the delivery chamber and replace the vended articleor articles. i

Each of the wings aforementioned, with the exception of 141), carries arigid depending arm 25, 26, 27 and 28 respectively, said arms being'arranged iii series and slidablv engaging substantially arcuate slots ineach of thewings'below, the wing 1825 or the up- .pei'most- Wing havinga solid surface. These Vdepen'ding arms extend downwardly to a pointbelowthe lowermost delivery arm 14a and when any one of said deliveryarms is swung'on itspivot, the rigid depending arm carried therebyactuates all of the delivery arms arranged below as liereinafter setforth. V Ha-ving thus described the construction and arrangement ofparts of my improved `'vending machine, its operation is as follows:-

We will assume that the articles in the delivery Chamber are valued atfivev cents each and'that the purcliasei' desires one article. Heinserts afive-cent piece in the chute which conducts the coin into theslot 6' in the drum 6 in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. `Thehandle 13 is then rotated in clockwise direction which in turn causesthe shaft 3 and drum 6 to i'otate, the coin in the slot 6' engaging theshort arm of the lever 14 and swinging saidlever on, its pivot, thuscausing the long'arm or delivery arm 14a to force the lowermost articleAfrom the delivery chamber through the pivoted closure 20 on to aplatformeor other suitable receptacle. i

Now assuming that the purchaser desires to obtain two articles with oneoperation, he

`inserts a ten-cent piece in the chute 11, said coin engaging the slot7' in the drum 7.

' Thus When the handle 13 is rotated, the

lever swings on its pivot and not only delivers article B, but throughthe medium of the depending arm 25, causes both delivery arms 14a and15a to engage the respective articles A and B and veiid the same throughthe olosures and 21.

From the above it will be obvious that any number of articles may bedelivered from the vending machine in a single operation, by theinsertion of the proper coin or coins, it being understood that vwhile Ihave shown an arrangement whereby a single coin actuates the deliveryarms, the structure may be such that two or more coins inserted in thecoin slots in the drums are necessary to engage the short arm of theleVers. yFor example, in vending three articles, a five-cent piece and aten-cent piece would .have to be inserted in the chute `(not shown)which controls the operation of the-lever 16, in order to vend articlesA, B and C. The principle of operation in all instances-h0wever,'-remains the same as above described.

After the drum has been rotated to 'a point where the coin carriedthereby has passed Vthe i short arm of ,theirespective lever, thecontinued rotation of said drum perniits said coin to drop out oftheslot and be deposited by gravity in a suitable coin receptacle, and

the lever is returned to itsnormal position 7 by means of springs 29,onel end of each of which is secured to the respective levers, and theother end rigidly secured to points in the housing. w v v It is obviousthat-if the handle 13 is turned whenthere is` no coin `in any of thedrums, said drums will rotate freely without actua-ting the deliveryarmsa From the foregoing' itis believed thatthe construction andadvantages of my improved vending machine may be readily understood bythose skilled in the art without further description,` it being borne inmind Vthat numerous changes may be made in the details disclosed withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the followingclaims. i 4

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Ina vendiiigmachine, a rotary member,

means on said member for receiving and firmlv supporting a coin inpi'ojecting relation thereto, means for rotating said member, afulcrumed-lever arranged adjacent said rotary member with one arm inclose proximity to said coin supportingz means and lying in a p'laneparallel to the aXis of saidrotary meinber, said arm being adapted to beoperatively engaged by a projectingi' coin upon the rotationV of saidrotary member, the other end of said lever formin'gv an article deliveryarm.

2. Ina vending machine, a plurality of rotary members, means on each ofsaid members for receiving aiid firinly supporting a coin in projectingrelation thereto, means for a plane parallel to the aXis of t rotatingsaid members, a fulcrumed lever arranged Vad]acent each of said rotarymembers `With one arm in close proximity to the reactuating certainother of said delivery arms p to vend a plurality of articles in asingle operation.

3.v In a vending machme, a plurality of coaxial rotary members, means oneach of said members for receiving and firmly ,support-V` ing a coin inprojecting relation thereto, means for rotating said members, a leverarranged'adjacent each of said rotary members and fulcrumed on an axistransverse to the axis of said members with one arm in close proximityto the respective coin supporting means, and adapted to be operativelyengaged by a projecting coin therein upon the rotation of said rotarymembers, the other end of each of said levers forming an articledelivery arm, and means carried by certain of said delivery arms foractuating certain other of said delivery arms to vend a plurality ofarticles in a single operation.

4. In a vending machine, a plurality of coaxial coin receiving cylindersof different diameters rotatably mounted in said machine and adapted torotate idly in the absenceof a coin, means in the periphery of each ofsaid cylinders for receiving and firmly supporting a coin in projectingrelation to said periphery, a plurality of levers arranged in superposedrelation and fulcrumed on axes transverse to the axis of said cylindersWith one end of each lever adjacent the periphery of one of saidcylinders, the other endof each lever forming an article delivery arm,and

means for rotating said cylinders, one of said cylinders cooperatingWith the respective lever through the medium ofa projecting coin todeliver a single article, the other cylinders cooperating With theirrespective levers through the medium of pro-jecting coins to deliver aplurality of articles from said machine.

5. Apparatus as clailned in claim 4 wherein the lowermost lever isadapted to vdeliver a single article, each of said other levers beingprovided With means for actuating the lever next below for delivering aplurality of articles.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 Wherein the lowermost lever isadapted to deliver a single article, each of said other levers beingprovided with a depending arm adapted to engage and actnate the levernext below for delivering a plurality of articles.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 Wherein the lowermost lever isadapted to deliver a single article, eachrof said other levers beingprovided With means for actuating the lever next below for delivering aplurality of articles, the delivery arm of each lever carr ing means forsupporting the article next a ove during the delivery of said firstnamed article or articles. 3

In testimony Whereo-f I have afiixed my signature.

CHARLES WALKER.

